THE FORMAL ELEMENTS OF GRAPHIC DESIGNWednesday: Making objects work for you

Aims:

1. To understand the formal elements of graphic design.

2. To understand how formal elements are used to communicate with an audience.

3. To use formal elements to communicate a message to an audience.

4. To be able to embed your understanding into your design intentions and show your understanding in sketchbook work.

• Outcomes: you will experiment with formal elements and plan and create at least two examples of visual communication in the digital environment.

Bridge Task: Wednesday 9.00am

1. Add all your designs and photos of experiments to your sketchbook and discuss how you used lines and shapes.

2. Make sure you research into the Elements of Graphic Design includes examples of each elements and how they can be used

3. Collect at least three images that use lines, three that use shapes, and two that use both, and discuss the following

• How is the designer using the lines and shapes?

• What do the lines and shapes bring to the design, and how?

• What other elements are there in the design, and how are the lines and shapes interacting with them?

• Discuss how you might use your understanding of lines and shapes to support the development of your own ideas and designs.

What can you see in the poster?• What is going on?

• What elements are being used?

• How are the elements being used.

• What other elements are present?

Recap: What do Lines & Shapes bring to a Design?

Lines:

• Dividing space

• Direction

• Highlight other content

• Structure

• Guide

• Define outlines

• Emphasis

• Movement

Shapes:

• Emotions

• Direction

• Division

• Highlight

• Guide

• Emphasis

• Movement

• Structure

Texture

Task 1: Texture:

What does texture bring to a design?

• In design texture is the feel of the paper/background

• If I touch it, is it smooth to touch or rough?

• Textures can also be visual:

• They provide implied depth and interest

• They can compliment the subject

• They can imply feeling and emotion; for example fabric is soft and inviting, stone is cold and uninviting.

• In pairs, find a design in which texture has been used.

• Explain to the group what the texture brings to the design and how it improves the visual communication.

Texture

• What words or feeling come to mind when looking at this texture?

• What type of design might this texture be used in?

Texture

• What words or feeling come to mind when looking at this texture?

• What type of design might this texture be used in?

Texture

• What does the texture bring to this design?

Task 1: What is a Texture? – 20 minute task

• Using your phones go around college and collect 30 examples of different textures

• Bring them back to the room and download them onto the Macs

• Using Photoshop’s Contact Sheet function, create a number of contact sheets of your selected textures.

• Add them to your sketchbook and explain:• What is the texture made from?• How might it be used in a design?• What feeling does the texture invoke?• What kind of subject might you use your texture in?• Are there other textures you have selected that you could use in the same way.

Negative Space

How might Negative Space be used in a design?• Make a list of all the ways negative space can be used in a design, and

why?

How might Space be used in a design?

Space allows the design the breath

Space can be used to both separate and connect elements in a design.

Wider spaces separate elements from each other and narrower spaces connect elements to reveal relationships between them.

Large spaces can be used to emphasisesmaller elements contained within them.

Whitespace (negative space) does three main things in a design.

1. Creates groupings of elements

2. Creates emphasis and hierarchy

3. Improves legibility

Space Discussion

Space

Does the design really need the large blue circles?

Space:

Space used to emphasise smaller elements contained within

Space

Space used to separate the text from the shape elements, creating defined areas for each element or group of elements

Space

Space between the shape elements works in the opposite way by combining the elements using small spaces between each one.

Task 2 – Negative Space/White Space

• Using the magazines provided, select and photograph five designs which use negative space in their construction.

• Download the images onto a Mac and create a contact sheet

• Add them to your sketchbook and discuss the following:• Where is the negative space in the design?• What is the purpose of the negative space?• How is the negative space being used?• Does the negative space separate or link objects together, how does it do this?• Does the negative space emphasise certain parts of the designs, which ones, and

why?• Is the negative space helping to group objects together, how and why?• Is the negative space creating hierarchy within the other elements on the page, how

and why?

Task 2: Design Task

• Using shapes and lines only create 3 quick sketches of a design idea that uses negative space within it using the following:

1. 4 Objects which are emphasised by space

2. 3 Objects which are separated by space

3. 3 Objects which are combined by space

Task 6: Digitise your designs:

• Using the tools in Photoshop, create the following:

• A digital version of each of your sketch designs using space, and introducing texture to imply depth, feeling, and emotion.

• Add texture to the elements and space in your design to promote feeling, emotion, and implied depth.

• Print the designs and formally analyse how you have used lines and shapes to visually communicate to the viewer.

Bridge Task : Thursday 2.30pm.

Collect at least three examples of the use of texture, and three examples of the use of space created by other designers then:

• Formally analyse using the design analysis document.

• Discuss the designers’ selection and use of texture and space to visually communicate with their intended audience.

• What do the textures bring to the designs? Have they been chosen to bring depth and interest? Do they support the theme? Do they evoke emotion?

• What does negative space bring to the designs? What is the purpose of the negative space? How is the negative space being used? Does the negative space separate or link objects together, how does it do this? Does the negative space emphasise certain parts of the designs, which ones, and why? Is the negative space helping to group objects together, how and why? Is the negative space creating hierarchy within the other elements on the page, how and why?

Aims:

1. To understand the formal elements of graphic design.

2. To understand how formal elements are used to communicate with an audience.

3. To use formal elements to communicate a message to an audience.

4. To be able to embed your understanding into your design intentions and show your understanding in sketchbook work.

• Outcomes: you will experiment with formal elements and plan and create at least two examples of visual communication in the digital environment.

Plenary:• I feel the most important thing I learnt today was?

• With the information I learnt today, I will now be able to…

• After today’s lesson I can now explain.

• Today I was able to make progress because…

• The part of the lesson I found easiest was…

• If was to set homework to build on today’s lesson I would…

• I am proud of myself today because….

• I think it is important to remember what I learnt today because…

• One thing I think I did really well was…

• Next time I would like to learn…